Heavenly Lunch At Poste

When was the last time you had fun at lunch? You looked at the menu and you had trouble selecting between 2 or 3 items? Unless you go to an upscale, famous-chef restaurant, whereever you go, the menus seem to be the same: cobb salad, ceasar salad, burger, BLT or club sandwich, chicken salad, grilled chicken sandwich, maybe some fish, maybe some pasta... If the food is interesting, generally you are in an ethnic restaurant, but the decor and ambience seems to be bare, service is inconsistent, and you give up the comfort or ability to converse without shouting. And forget about relaxation. A lot of action, noise, people coming in and out, staff running around struggling to feed as many people as possible... When was the last time you "relaxed" at lunch, let your hair down, and wanted it to take longer so you can enjoy the food, the light, the conversation with your food-mate and even considered ordering dessert so you can linger just a little more?

I found such a place in the middle of the city... At Poste...

If you walk through the Hotel entrance on F Street (Hotel Monaco), you pass an interesting lobby and enter a pretty room full of natural daylight, cleverly placed seating with interesting but not over-bearing decor... And ff you come through the 8th Street entrance, you leave the city behind as soon as you reach the courtyard. And you enter a new world through the glass doors of this "Modern Brasserie."

On a comfortable day, sitting outside may be a great escape for sun and fresh-air-deprived office workers. Poste not only offers cute and casual tables on the terrace, but also lounge-y sofas and chairs in the shade. However, if it is one of those 85 plus degree temperatures with high humidity (and especially if you spent the last couple of hours walking around the city like I did) you'll be looking for a cool spot and quick, attentive service. Thankfully, the main dining room also has plenty of natural daylight, so you don't have to leave your heart outside.

The booths and tables are cleverly positioned with some view of the pots and pans hanging in the kitchen. If you are lucky (or interested) you will also get a view of the colorful preserved lemon jars on one side. The ceiling is high and airy, with simple and tasteful design all around. Staff is attentive and enthusiastic. Due to two entrances, you may not meet a host right away, but they are quick to cover the distance and welcome you. In the meantime, you can enjoy the light-filled room, carefully placed mirrors, and the simple open kitchen with the paper cones lined up for European style "pommes frittes" which make me think I am in Europe or New York. No matter what, I am definitely in the right place.

Once we are seated, the cheerful server comes by right away to ask for our water preference. Having burnt many times with exorbitantly expensive fancy water bottles, I am ready to go for tap, but my companion is faster than me and orders sparkling, which I have to be thankful for, as I am about to have one of the best water experiences in the city. Before I can ask, the server says "great! lime wedges as well?" - I like this place already! Within a minute, we have a large botle of sparkling water which tastes very good. I can't take my eyes off the pretty bottle, and I am surprised to see there is no source, but just a website and an 800 number. When the server comes back to get our order, I ask about the source of the water, and he tells me "it is right here! We have our own bottling unit here." It is hard to believe but too good to pass. The best part of it is they keep filling both our glasses and the bottle as both I and my companion keep guzzling it down (in the end, we'll find that we were charged only $2.5 per person for almost 3 full-size bottles we had.)

How often do you read the menu at lunch? This is a place to take a moment to read it, to make sure you are not missing anything. Once you read it, if you are like me, you narrow it down to 3-4 items, then you read them again and consult with your companion. In my case, I consult with my companion not only to get his or her opinion, but also to make sure we are not ordering the same thing. I hate looking around the table and seeing all of the same, no matter how good they may be. Since I like to see and taste as much as possible, there are times I will order my second or third choice just to make sure there is variety on the table. At Poste it is not an issue... I am almost tempted to invite others to our table so we can order even more!

After a long glance at the menu, I am able to make a decision and order the Butter Lettuce salad and the Smoked Duck Reuben, only after finding out that my companion is interested in the gazpacho and the soft shell crab BLT - the other top choices I was considering. I make a mental note to try the local goat cheese and beet salad; the garden arugula salad with basil, mint and figs; escargot, serrano ham and manchego baguette, and the steak frites. Through the excitement of the menu, I forget to order the french fries, but our server is quick to remind, since we are having a lot of greens, he suggests we substitute the side salads that come with the sandwich with the fries (he ignores to tell us that is extra though!)

The orders are in place pretty fast. Both the salad and the gazpacho are presented beautifully, we both find that the green tomato gazpacho is too little of a portion for $12. It barely covers one third of a wine glass. The day before, we had a large bowl of tomato soup at another Kimpton Hotel restaurant (in Rosslyn) for $8. This looks almost like a large amuse bouche. The Butter Lettuce is very pretty with the individual leaves drenched in tangy vinaigraitte and placed back in its original shape and sprinkled with fresh herbs, lovely tarragon giving it a french flair. The salad is very good, however the dressing is too tangy even for someone who likes a higher ratio of vinegar in her dressing like me. Just as we finish our appetizers, the sandwiches arrive, once again, beautifully presented in rectangular plates. The smoked duck reuben is a wonderful combination of duck that looks just like roast beef, sauerkraut, and well-balanced sauce on dark bread. It is very fulfilling, and definitely worth the $15. The only complaint I have is that the bread is either toasted for a little too long or retoasted. It is a little on the hard side, and I wish it was sliced just a little thinner. My companion is very happy with his BLT as well, so we exchange the second halves. The bread on the BLT is perfect with a softer inside, and a crunchy outside. Even though I love the idea of soft-shell crab BLT, it turns out that the crab is a little too small for this sandwich or most of it stayed on the other side. I can't taste much of the crab, but there is a bold BLT flavor in my mouth. Feeling full from the first sandwich, I finish my BLT as open faced, which gives me a chance to dig in the fries as well. The truffle fries are delicious, but I wish they came with a sauce, preferably mustard. They crave for a zippy and zesty touch of mustard, as opposed to poorly cooked fries asking for sweet ketchup. I'm full but I can't stop eating - too good to let it go to waste... And the sparkling water is a good companion!

As we approach the end of this lovely experience, I don't want to go... Yet... Especially after hearing that there is a lavender sorbet. I'm full yet hungry for more. How in the world can I leave now? I struggle with choosing between coffee and dessert... My companion is full but is intrigued by my interest. In the end, I cannot say no to daily selection of sorbets, which happen to be raspberry, buttermilk, and lavender. They also turn out to be much smaller scoops than the normal (the server calles them "glamorous scoops") but it is again a nice amuse bouche to clean the palate, and leave the mouth with a refreshing feeling. I wish buttermilk was more of a simple buttermilk sorbet as opposed to the lemony sorbet. I was expecting a creamy and almost sweet taste of milk, and lemon is too tangy for that expectation. Raspberry is perfectly balanced between refreshing taste of fresh berries and a tad of sweetness that gives you the perfect ending to a meal. Lavender is tenderly floral and perfectly cleansing without feeling like a medicine.

After such a perfect meal, I am still not ready to go. The colorful pillows on the seats are simply too tempting to just stay and take a nap. Thankfully, my fascination with the restaurant is not over yet. I hear they grow their own herbs and vegetables right outside, so I am on my foot to take a look. Outside is a bright, and comfortable terrace, the higher section with chairs and tables, and the lower section with sofas, coffee tables and cushions in the shade. I think I am ready for a nap now! The quiet and shady courtyard is the perfect escape from the busy city on the other side of the wall... Before I leave, I take a look at the herbs, lettuces, tomatoes and berries growing in pots. It is so wonderful to have tasted real food in the middle of the city, and to know that it was picked couple hours before it made it to my plate... As we walk out, I glance one more time to my newly found city-escape and whisper "I will be back..."